Molly and Claire had some long-distance FaceTime with Olivia Hatfield on Wednesday.

Olivia smiled broadly from her rehabilitation room in Atlanta as she got to see her once-lost dogs for the first time since she was profoundly injured in a car crash on June 29.

In just over a month since that crash near Cullman, Olivia is making remarkable progress, especially considering doctors didn't think she'd live through the night when she first arrived at UAB Hospital.

Olivia recently was transferred from UAB to Shepherd Center in Atlanta, a well-known, highly respected rehabilitation center, where she continues to improve.

Olivia and her husband, Seth, crashed into a tree along I-65 at Mile Marker 298 while returning from Dothan to their home in Nashville. A tractor trailer truck collided with their car, being driven by Olivia. Seth suffered minor injuries, but Olivia sustained serious head injuries. After the crash, the couple's two dogs, Molly and Claire, fled in opposite directions.

Olivia Hatfield is now at Shepherd Center in Atlanta, a rehab hospital. (Photo courtesy Seth Hatfield)

A large group of volunteers, many of whom had never met each other before, searched the area along I-65 for Molly and Claire for nearly two weeks before locating the dogs and returning them to Seth.

People all over the nation followed the search via Facebook.

Molly and Claire boarded with a Cullman veterinarian for awhile, but now they're staying with Seth's parents in Crestwood, Ky., just outside Louisville. That's where Debbie Hatfield, Seth's mother, hooked up Molly, Claire and Olivia with FaceTime so the dogs could see Olivia, she could see her dogs, and Olivia could speak to them.

"It did cause a big smile on her face," Debbie Hatfield said. "The dogs couldn't hear her very well, but they could hear Seth."

Olivia is much farther ahead mentally than physically, Hatfield said.

"Her thought processes are so far ahead of where they should be," Hatfield said. "She knows what she can't do."

That understanding sometimes leaves Olivia agitated, Hatfield said. She gets frustrated because she knows what to do, but her body can't do it.

"She's like a baby who has to learn to swallow, to dress herself, brush her teeth, take a shower, stand and sit," Hatfield said. "Her muscles still have a lot to learn."

The important point: Olivia is improving daily. That keeps the family members encouraged.

"She will get back," Debbie Hatfield said. "She's doing well."

It'll take time, sure, but before long Olivia won't have to depend on a FaceTime session to be with Molly and Claire.